Qatar Airways was “offered” unprofitable Greek carrier Olympic Airlines, Air Seychelles and “even Air Serbia,” while Italy’s Alitalia, which has suffered years of losses, has indicated its availability “several times over the past five years,” Al Baker said, adding that none of the deals came through.

“We want to make sure that we don’t create a burden on us,” the CEO said in Edinburgh.

“We want airlines that we acquire to be complimentary to us, we don’t want to get involved in fixing other people’s problems.”